Saturday, April 8th: PALS Challenge to Excellence Chesstravaganza

Saturday, April 22nd: PALS April-Not-Fools Chesstravaganza

Three divisions: K-1, 2-3, & 4-5 in the Challenge to Excellence Chesstravaganza and K-2, K-5, and K-8 (USCF rated) in the April-Not-Fools Chesstravaganza

Kids won’t want to miss these exciting events!  PALS tournaments are kid-friendly, tons of fun, and a great way to motivate your child to improve in chess while learning valuable chess and life lessons between rounds.  One recurring theme, told through personal stories and historical anecdotes, centers on good sportsmanship, growing from mistakes, and learning from losses in order to grow and achieve better results in the future.

Following our tournament tradition for over a decade, we love to discuss chess and life lessons between rounds.  With Spring in the air, these events will focus on growth and renewal, challenging ourselves to set meaningful goals and developing effective plans to achieve them both on and off the chessboard.  With every new move or strategy, we try, we open the door to a new discovery and even our losses can be seen as a starting place for a new beginning. 

In addition to the tournament games, participants may enjoy a giant outdoor chess set, a playground where children can play outside between rounds, and as always, trophies and medals for for ALL.  Every child leaves with an award and most importantly, a smile 🙂  See online registration form for more details.

Special Events:

Bughouse Championship / Simul with Coach Lior!

Challenge to Excellence Chesstravaganza: Bughouse Championship Any chessnuts craving even more chess will have the chance to compete in our 9th annual Bughouse Championship! In this fun, social and often wild team chess variant, children pair up with a friend, parent or sibling to double their power: every time a player captures a piece, s/he gives that piece to a partner, who in turn may bring it back to life on their own board (instead of making a normal move).  This makes the game much less peaceful and more piece-full than usual, as players may have as many as four knights or 16 pawns — a Knightmare in a Pawnted House!

April-Not-Fools Chesstravaganza: Can YOU defeat Coach Lior?

After the main tournament concludes, National Master Lior Lapid will take on all comers in a simultaneous exhibition! Children are welcome to play on a team with their friends, siblings, or parents.  Two Best Game trophies will be awarded at the end of the event.  All winning teams will earn a large personalized trophy commemorating their achievement!

Awesome Prizes!

PALS Chess Academy returns with fantastic array of trophies or medals for ALL participants!  These include large trophies trophies for the top ten and large medals for the top 20 in each section. Unique prizes include the Chess Queen Trophies awarded to the girls who score the most points in each section, the David vs Goliath trophy to the player in the youngest grade who scores the most points in each section, outstanding sportsmanship medals, fighting spirit medals and more!

Lunch

The lunch break is between rounds 3 and 4 from around 11:45 (or whenever your child’s third round game ends) until 12:45, when the final round begins.  There are plenty of restaurants in the area, and parents and children may also bring a packed lunch to the tournament.